Three Qantas points per dollar can now be earned on all hotel bookings made on the Qantas website.
Points have been awarded on hotel bookings made through Qantas Hotels previously, however only on selected participating hotels. Now, at least 3 points per dollar are earned when booking any of the 127,000 worldwide hotels featured on the Qantas website. Selected hotels will continue to attract bonus points during special promotions.
The change has been welcomed by many of our members who are happy to see new ways to earn Qantas points on the ground.
The Qantas Hotels booking portal now offers 3 points per dollar spent on all Hotels, not just partner hotels as previous stipulated.
This is fantastic news, as the ability to earn frequent flyer points on all hotel bookings includes many gems in the hotel/accomodation industry that were previously advantageous to book on other third party websites, but now Qantas Hotels is certainly going to be my “go to” website for accommodation bookings.
However, some members warn that prices may be higher on bookings made through the Qantas website.
As an alternative, Virgin Velocity points are earned at a rate of 3 per dollar on bookings made through Agoda, provided the Virgin Australia link is used. On top of this, Virgin status holders earn between 50% and 100% bonus points. As Agoda may also be cheaper than Qantas Hotels, one member suggests comparing hotel prices across both websites.
Good change for possible QF earn but you will still be paying 10-20% more on average more than other websites. A status bonus would be good (like VA/Agoda).
If you’re collecting Qantas points but find that another website is selling the room at a lower rate, Qantas Hotels does offer a Price Promise. As long as your claim meets all of the (admittedly long list of) terms & conditions, Qantas promises to refund the price difference and award 1,000 Qantas points for your trouble.
For those that claim the prices are higher with QF Hotels, there’s always the Price Promise. I have been successful with this in the past, although the process was a bit drawn out.
However, some members believe the offer of extra points on Qantas hotel bookings is not enough of an incentive over the discounts on offer through a website called Cheap Tickets. By using publically available discount codes, savings of up to 18% are available.
I give a ‘+100’ vote for cheaptickets and their discount codes. Used them for several hotels recently and the discount coupons were genuine. The only thing is that being a US site it prices in US dollars and then adds taxes – so you don’t know the final price until the payment page. But I saved a couple hundred dollars on mid-range accommodation for a week.
Just one word of warning if you’re planning to use your hotel loyalty program benefits during your stay: Hotel nights booked through third-party websites often do not count towards status attainment. You may also miss out on hotel points and other benefits through your hotel’s loyalty program.
Join the discussion HERE.
